Portland Tribune Features Hoodworks founder Matt Bader

Portland-based Hoodworks founder Matt Bader’s light bulb moment came during a drive to Mt. Hood with his family.

Along the way he noticed lines of pickup trucks with mountain bikes, their front tires awkwardly draped off the back. You know that tangled, uneasy mess of wheels you don’t like driving behind.

He went back home and searched through 5,800 patents. No one had thought to address bike storage by changing the tailgate itself, which he began to study very closely. Six months were spent in secrecy while a licensing strategy and patents were put in place for all the parts that are novel.